1. InstantDomainSearch.com

Some of Instant Domain Search features:
• Suggestions - click and takes you to GoDaddy.com where you’ll see ‘More Options’ of alternative domains you may like.
• Acquire Domain - links to Sedo.com, a Domain Acquisition Service
• WhoIs - select this option takes you to http://whois.domaintools.com to learn more about the ownership of the domain
• Hacks - goes to Xona.com which will give you unconventional domain combinations (i.e. delicious.com to del.icio.us)
• Alexa - which will talk about the site’s web traffic rank
• Visit Site

I’ve been using InstantDomainSearch.com for years.

2. Domize.com

3. AjaxWhois.com

Some of AjaxWhoIs features:
• Ability to preselect your preferred extensions (.com, .net, etc.) for your domain search
• Also partners with GoDaddy.com and even includes GoDaddy coupons
• Whois - without leaving the site will display the domain’s ownership information with a bit of added security to make sure you’re human wanting the information (thanks AjaxWhoIs) for not promoting spambots!
• Domain hacks will appear on right-hand column if a combination exists
• Statsaholic - which uses Compete and Quantcast traffic data
• Go to website link

Virtual workers, freelancers and web designers alike: How do you keep your projects organized?

Reminders:
Myself, I use my handy Palm T|X which I usually carry around with me everywhere I go.

Lists:
When brainstorming, having an Ah-ha! moment, need to add/remove things to my to-do or could it be that I’m simply obsessed with writing lists (am I alone here?)… I visit my TaDaList. I highly recommend creating a web-based to-do list using TaDaList.

Digital Filing Cabinet:
Wish you were more thorough about how you organize your projects? Here’s a tip from ActionMethod.com’s Tip Exchange on Creating a Useful Desktop.

“Instead of having an escapist travelogue photo as the desktop pattern, I’ve found it useful over the years to create background images that show discreet “hot” to “cold” areas. This way, before getting involved in any one task, you can arrange files of active projects according to priority and urgency, and move items along the line towards completion and archiving.” Read the rest of the tip at ActionMethod.com

Joe Clark of AListApart.com has said, “PDF files on the web are sometimes annoying and very often unnecessary… There are too many PDFs on the web. Most every PDF should be something other than PDF.”

Purist and the practical approach of Andy Wibbel rants about PDFs saying, “I think my big beef is that it always forces the user to open up another application. And often it’s a waste of space like a PowerPoint presentation. I understand PDFs if you’re doing product delivery etc but not for stuff that should be freely available and searchable.”

I’m still a fan of the original CSI in Las Vegas but you gotta love CSI Miami for trying!

Time for a commercial break. On occasion you may witness a TV commercial that strikes you as particularly catchy or effective. Here’s an example:

The theme: We know. We know. Men are dogs! Whoof, whoof.

Jacqueline McCarthy, on the Executive Committee of the Graphic Artists Guild, posts her Little White Lies My Clients Have Told Me - Part 2 where whe’s been told, “Just fool around with it a little. If you come up with something I like, I’ll pay you.” Jacqueline goes with her rant, “Wow, total creative freedom! I’ll just work up some designs and they are sure to like one of them, right? Well, there is a chance they could like one of your designs, but most times these people are window-shopping. They have likely done this before with a different designer and will do it again in the future. And you probably won’t get paid for your time and efforts.”

That statement sounded all too familiar. When I was a little wet behind the ears and green to freelancing, I remember experiencing the very same scenario. What usually happens is they steal your ideas and just hire someone really cheap to finalize the project.

Early on in my web design career, I remember emailing Neil Tortorella, a veteran graphic designer, about spec work which prompted his article, “The problem with spec work revisited.” To quote a little from Neil’s article, “I explain to clients and prospects that I deal in ideas, concepts and hours. I don’t make widgets and that can be hard for some clients to understand. Particularly if they manufacture a product. They know it costs X amount to make it and takes Y amount of time to produce it. I may come up with a killer idea in a couple of minutes. Or it may take several days. But, either way, I go through my process and do the research, explore concepts and work out the bugs. My first idea may be the best, but I don’t know that unless I go through the design process.”

Freelance doesn’t translate to free work! You won’t respect yourself if you do spec work. If you ask your potential clients, “What’s your budget for this project?” and they don’t have an answer… that might be a red flag! Clients should have a budget range that they would be willing to invest for their projects whether it’s a project for a brochure design, copywriting, blog design, search engine optimization, and web site design. Some budgets simply require a little more creativity and flexibility to accomplish business goals but without a sense of the budget, who can really recommend solutions?

Want to learn about the pitfalls of spec work? Visit No!Spec, today.

Slide.com as a marketing tool.

Step 1: Gather up your testimonials
Step 2: Convert them to graphic image billboards
Step 3: Go to Slide.com, upload your graphic testimonials, pick a theme that compliments your website and convert to a slideshow.
Step 4: Copy and paste the slideshow code to your website